Sales of the PS4 version of A Realm Reborn weren’t nearly as high as those of the PlayStation 3 version. Launched in September 2013, the PS3 version of the game sold 184,018 copies in its first week and sold through 89% of its shipment.

Part of the reason for the low sales of A Realm Reborn on PS4 is, of course, the fact that the game can be upgraded from the PS3 edition to the PS4 edition for free.

However, Media Create say that, according to their research, purchasers of the PlayStation 4 downloaded the FFXIV beta more than any other downloadable game on the platform, and retailers were expecting the game to do much better, since only two PS4 games were released in April.

As a result, the low sell-through rate of the PS4 version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn seems rather low, Media Create concluded.

I’m curious about Western sales. Were sales low due to the same reason, I wonder

Varnes

VGchartz said 50k for the USA

Phlo

VGchartz literally makes up numbers sometimes, though, so…

Varnes

Better than nothing XD

Phlo

I’m of the opinion that no information is better than misinformation.

XYZ_JolteonZ980

What were retailers thinking, should have called for low numbers considering, digital game, upgrade availability, and etc. Otherwise seems like another case of media create struggling to come up with relevant and actually meaningful news articles like usual.

http://twitter.com/#!/kaishou Kaishou

Oh Jesus Christ Tsuna.

http://www.siliconera.com/ Ishaan

Have you been drinking again?

popo123

I think it’s the same thing. Those who tried the Ps4 beta probably already have played the ps3 and just upgraded for free when the game got released. Not because they downloaded the beta doesn’t mean they don’t already own the ps3 version.

Logan Moll

Well, I was going to say something like this, but you hit it nicely on the head. I completely agree. This is not a case where the raw number of sales is really very telling.

lordsofskulls

my exact same thought.

Firekitty

Yeah, this data would really only mean anything if we also had data on how many people used the free upgrade service.

Wait what

Not only did most people already have it on PS3 so they could upgrade, even the people who didn’t probably bought the PS3 version and upgraded anyway. The PS3 version is cheaper, especially with all the sales that have happened for it, so buying it and then doing the free upgrade was a better choice than buying the PS4 version.

Varnes

Apparently it sold 50k in the USA

http://www.mrtiredmedia.com/ NickyD

I would assume that, besides the PS3->PS4 upgrade, most people who got the Beta would just get the digital version of the game. I really think Japan should stop relying solely on physical sales data to determine a title’s “sell-through.”

http://www.carpefulgur.com SpaceDrake

I was going to say – this could also be a sign that more Japanese consumers are beginning to embrace digi-distro as a possibility. ESPECIALLY among the kind of person who would be an early adopter for the PS4 in Japan.

So, not too surprising that sales were low. If anything I’m surprised they pushed that many copies out to retailers (though I suppose they also want shelf presence for impulse buys).

http://www.mrtiredmedia.com/ NickyD

I couldn’t agree more.
As I’ve gotten older, my desire for anything physical has almost vanished entirely (for games; I still need my physical animu), so I’m kind of banking on digital stuff to catch on globally. My new rule has been to see how long I can go without buying a physical game for PS4. So far, so good.

M’iau M’iaut

You know I’m always gonna smile when you post here Nick.

I still remember how happy you were to tell us about the new job.

PringlesXD

This is expected, considering people could upgrade to PS4 for free. I’m pretty sure the game will keep going just fine, and hopefully more people get to play it.

Kevin Komic O’Shea

what they should do is count the number of people who just upgrade from the PS3 to the PS4, since that was free.

shuyai

i just cant imagine playing mmo on a console i mean it will be a pain in the ass to communicate

하세요

I did fine playing XI on 360. USB keyboard and Vent were what everyone used anyway, and I always played next to my laptop (constant FFXI wiki searching). I would’ve just played it on PC but back then my laptop was some poop and couldn’t run even basic PC games. I couldn’t run Team Fortress 2. It was pathetic.

Seven of The Scions

Ummm FFXI on XBOX360? did i miss something?

M’iau M’iaut

Yes. Everything up to the latest material was on the 360.

Seven of The Scions

Okay that was nice, I want to play FFXI from a looong time ago, although i know it’s really hard for new players but i guess I want to taste a bit of it on my xbox360:)

Ferrick

usb keyboard does wonders

rurifan

Most people even on PS3/PS4 seem to have a keyboard.

Very rarely I do a dungeon run and somebody won’t talk at all so I assume they are crippled with only a controller…

Seven of The Scions

And within PS4 we can easily communicate through Partychat.

Keyboard still sucks though, SE needs to fix it.

rurifan

I’ve … never even seen anybody suggest that.

Almost always my parties are mixed platform anyway.

Seven of The Scions

In PS3 i’m using small wireless keyboard that attached in my joystick, I did talk a lot in dungeons before so things getting lively.

On PS4 i’m using logitech wireless keyboard so it force me to sit while playing, but unfortunately when i plugged keyboard usb receiver and headphone receiver together makes my keyboard error and so much delay in typing, i hope SE fix this since it’s only happen in FFXIV.

There’s few of my friends using PS4 for playing FFXIV well, I can just do chat party to warn them about weigh of land/landslide against Titan exreme or something, lol

rurifan

That’s interesting, my MS wireless keyboard acts unusually bad (slow/dropped input) in FF14 too, I have to put it like half way between me and the PS4 to get reasonable behavior.

Works perfectly from my seat with an HTPC the same distance away.

Would be great if Sony/SE ever fixed the issue. My typing is slow and full of typos reaching way forward to the keyboard on an ottoman.

http://youtube.com/miyabigaming 禍津水樹 (MagatsuMizuki)

Kind of surprising seeing how well FFXI is doing

axemtitanium

Not surprising since there’s literally zero reason to buy the PS4 version, when you can just buy the PS3 version for cheaper and upgrade for free. And who buys an MMO on disc when a digital version is available? In other news, FFXIV has over 2 million subs. *drops mic*

https://twitter.com/Nicalrant Nicalrant

I mainly played on PC, but it runs like a dream on the PS4 sans some UI treaking. It’s definitely nice to relax on my couch with a wireless KB and mouse.

axemtitanium

Playing on PS4 is functionally indistinguishable from PC at this point since it accepts mouse and keyboard. There is no more advantage to PC, other than some minor graphical stuff if you’re a line/frame counter.

Wesley Kenneth Houpt Mattingly

It’s not minor graphical increase. Anisotropic x16 makes the PS4 pale by comparison. The lighting and shadows are more crisp, clean and prevalent. Loading is significantly faster on PC, especially for busy areas. It can take the PS4 30 seconds to load a place like Moar Doughnuts, and my PC at max loads them in seconds, and I don’t even have a SSD. Granted I do play primarily on PS4 now for the comfort of 60″ LED in my easy chair with a PS4 controller. But I still notice the huge improvement of gamplay when I hop on PC to do Odin since its nearly impossible on PS4 or PS3.

Nanaki

If we don’t have a PS4 at the moment, but still have a copy of the PS3 version of Realm Reborn, do we still have the option to upgrade or does it expire after some time?

Draparde

The upgrade offer will end on december 31 2014 if i remember right.

Seven of The Scions

Go to Mog station, click the ‘FREE UPGRADE’ icon and it will gives you redeem code for your PS4.

at least you are registered in FFXIV before.

Also, better if you import your character first from PS3 version before playing.

niwaar

There are very few JP PS4′s. There are very few JP PS4 specific games. Once JP game companies start releasing their games ONLY on PS4 and not everything still on PS3 we will see an increase.

If looked at the number of “free upgrades” from PS3 to PS4 versions of this game you may see a bit of a difference.

WolfDuo

Did they consider the fact that it’s the third release of the game?

http://twitter.com/#!/kaishou Kaishou

“Part of the reason for the low sales of A Realm Reborn on PS4 is, of course, the fact that the game can be upgraded from the PS3 edition to the PS4 edition for free.”

This is probably the key reason WHY it undersold. Heck Square Enix themselves shouldn’t even be surprised.

Draparde

After downloading the ps4 beta…i bought the ps3 version and just upgraded to the ps4 after it launched :x i’m sure i’m not the only one who did it lol.

Monterossa

more fact: not so many PS4 users in Japan.

Seven of The Scions

Of course they doing free upgrade, there’s no reason to play in PS3 after you own PS4, IT’S SOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER PERFORMANCE than PS3 who kills me with latency in graphic, low animation and everything~

Ah I love it FF14 on my PS4, although there’s still has many frame drop inside the town and Fates, lol

rurifan

It feels great when the game manages 45-60fps.

Wish there was an option to hide other player’s useless pets that clutter up the towns and slow it down.

foopy

I’m an old Final Fantasy Fuddy-Duddy who didn’t even really like 12 all that much and hated 13. I think that 6 was the pinnacle of the series.

Final Fantasy XIV is a really good game. It’s grindier than your average western MMO, but makes up for that with a pretty fantastic storyline and letting you grind in a myriad of interesting ways.

If you are into either Final Fantasy or MMOs, give it a shot. You might be surprised. I certainly was.

AFatHouseCat

I def. agree you should give it a shot, for an MMO it has a surprisingly heavy story-driven campaign and actually feels like an older FF title, and the Duty Finder makes it easy to find groups without relying on needing to know friends/guild mates to actually progress through the group portions so you can still play pretty hermit-y and progress through without having to be too social (unless you find you like playing with others, which you might, never know!)

Wake

I agree. I gave FFXIV a chance and I just can’t stop playing. It dawned on me on how much I missed the old FF world where it was more high fantasy than sci-fi. FF6 still remains my favorite FF, and seeing a world similar to it was a joy.

rurifan

I play FF14 and enjoy it, but I wouldn’t mislead anybody that the “story driven campaign” is anything like a traditional RPG. It mostly consists of the same dumb fetch quests with occasional uninspired talking animations.

Dungeons are fun but only if you like role-defined co-op play.

Seven of The Scions

Actually FF14 is the most ‘Final Fantasy’ you can get in this era, but it’s in MMO.

Just consider, you can journey together with your friends and share your adventure in that world.

I recommend you find someone or people playing story mode from the start, it feels awesome~

AFatHouseCat

Sorry I disagree, the core story, the actual plot, not the random fetch quests, is so much more traditional Final Fantasy-feeling to me than anything else they’ve come up with lately. Yeah there are a lot of random fetch quests and filler, but you show me a “traditional RPG” that DOESN’T have fetch quests.

I do agree that roles are really defined tho, so if you dont like playing DPS, Tank or Heals, as a dedicated role you’re probably going to hate your time in the dungeons, but I personally think it’s good that people have to learn their roles so well, it makes people count on everyone to hold up their end of the party that much more.

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